Politics Report: The 101 Ash St. Scandal Isn't Going Away

By Andrew Keatts, the Voice of San Diego

July 3, 2021

Jason Hughes is now firmly at the center of the legal dispute emanating from the city’s disastrous acquisition of a high rise in downtown San Diego – a deal he masterminded and, it turns out, profited from handsomely despite representing himself publicly as a volunteer. And that now puts him at the center of the political fallout from the scandal as well. His political donating history is a good place to start. Hughes, whose three-mayoral-administration-long role as the city’s volunteer real estate adviser is now fit for increased scrutiny, has been a reliable max donor to both Republicans and Democrats going back to 2012. He gave Mayor Todd Gloria $2,200 for his successful campaign last year, for instance, and also gave his 2016 Assembly bid $4,200. He also gave Mara Elliott, the city attorney who now says the $10 million Hughes earned by orchestrating two city lease-to-own deals for do…

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